scholarly journals A Simplified Brain Blocking Protocol Optimized for the Diagnosis of Neurodegenerative Disease Saves Time and Money While Preserving Anatomic Relationships

Author(s):  
Nathan F. Clement ◽  
John C. DeWitt ◽  
Matthew P. Frosch ◽  
Maria Martinez-Lage ◽  
Wesley R. Samore ◽  
...  

Context.— Postmortem evaluation for neurodegenerative disease is expensive in time and materials. These challenges can be met by implementing simpler sampling protocols while preserving anatomic relations. Objective.— To determine the diagnostic effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of a simplified brain blocking protocol compared with the standard blocking protocol used in our Alzheimer disease research center (ADRC). Design.— We prospectively compared the neuropathologic diagnoses established from our standard 19-cassette/19 brain sites ADRC protocol to a simplified 6-cassette/12 brain sites protocol in 52 consecutive cases. The simplified protocol generated 14 slides for comparison to 52 slides from our standard protocol. Results.— Compared with the ADRC protocol the simplified protocol produced Alzheimer Disease Neuropathologic Changes probability scores that were the same in 50 of 52 cases (r = 0.99). Staging for Lewy pathology was equivalent in 45 of 52 (r = 0.98), scoring for cerebral amyloid angiopathy was equivalent in 48 of 52 (r = 0.97), and grading for arteriolosclerosis was the same in 45 of 52 cases (r = 0.92). Progressive supranuclear palsy (n = 4), multiple system atrophy (n = 2), and corticobasal degeneration (n = 1) could be diagnosed by either protocol independently. The estimated savings per case was 72% or $1744.89 ($2436.37 [ADRC] versus $691.48 [simplified]). Conclusions.— The diagnosis of neurodegenerative disease at autopsy can be done accurately with a less expensive, simplified protocol. Our protocol is similar to those of previously published approaches, but it has a simpler organization scheme. This method should be valuable to institutions where autopsy cost considerations may be important.

2019 ◽  
Vol 79 (7) ◽  
pp. 716-737 ◽  
Author(s):  
María Carmona‐Iragui ◽  
Laura Videla ◽  
Alberto Lleó ◽  
Juan Fortea

2012 ◽  
Vol 71 (8) ◽  
pp. 750-759 ◽  
Author(s):  
Akihiko Hoshi ◽  
Teiji Yamamoto ◽  
Keiko Shimizu ◽  
Yoshikazu Ugawa ◽  
Masatoyo Nishizawa ◽  
...  

2016 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
pp. P680-P680
Author(s):  
Janka Hegedus ◽  
Ana Alvarez-Veronesi ◽  
Angela Zwiers ◽  
Anna Charlton ◽  
Ramnik Sekhon ◽  
...  

Stroke ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lukas Sveikata ◽  
Andreas Charidimou ◽  
Anand Viswanathan

We review the implications of the recently approved aducanumab amyloid-β immunotherapy for treating Alzheimer disease with comorbid cerebral amyloid angiopathy. In clinical trials, amyloid-β immunotherapy has been associated with a high rate of amyloid-related imaging abnormalities, potentially driven by coexisting cerebral amyloid angiopathy. Therefore, immunotherapy’s efficacy in patients may be modified by coexisting cerebrovascular pathology. We discuss the contributions of cerebral amyloid angiopathy on the development of amyloid-related imaging abnormalities and propose strategies to identify cerebral amyloid angiopathy in patients considered for immunotherapy.


Author(s):  
Johannes Attems ◽  
Kurt A. Jellinger

This chapter describes the main neuropathological features of the most common age-associated neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and dementia with Lewy bodies, as well as other less frequent ones such as multiple system atrophy, Pick’s disease, corticobasal degeneration, progressive supranuclear palsy, argyrophilic grain disease, neurofibrillary tangle-dominant dementia, frontotemporal lobar degeneration with TDP-43 pathology, and Huntington’s disease. Likewise, cerebral amyloid angiopathy, hippocampal sclerosis, vascular dementia, and prion diseases are described. A main aim of this chapter is to assist the reader in interpreting neuropathological reports; hence criteria for the neuropathological classifications of the major diseases are provided. One section covers general considerations on neurodegeneration, and basic pathophysiological mechanisms of tau, amyloid-β‎, α‎-synuclein, TDP-43, and prions are briefly described in the sections on the respective diseases. Finally, one section is dedicated to cerebral multimorbidity, and a view on currently emerging neuropathological methods is given.


Neurology ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 95 (10) ◽  
pp. e1333-e1340 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aaron R. Switzer ◽  
Ikreet Cheema ◽  
Cheryl R. McCreary ◽  
Angela Zwiers ◽  
Anna Charlton ◽  
...  

ObjectiveTo assess cerebrovascular reactivity in response to a visual task in participants with cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA), Alzheimer disease (AD), and mild cognitive impairment (MCI) using fMRI.MethodsThis prospective cohort study included 40 patients with CAA, 22 with AD, 27 with MCI, and 25 healthy controls. Each participant underwent a visual fMRI task using a contrast-reversing checkerboard stimulus. Visual evoked potentials (VEPs) were used to compare visual cortex neuronal activity in 83 participants. General linear models using least-squares means, adjusted for multiple comparisons with the Tukey test, were used to estimate mean blood oxygen level–dependent (BOLD) signal change during the task and VEP differences between groups.ResultsAfter adjustment for age and hypertension, estimated mean BOLD response amplitude was as follows: CAA 1.88% (95% confidence interval [CI] 1.60%–2.15%), AD 2.26% (1.91%–2.61%), MCI 2.15% (1.84%–2.46%), and control 2.65% (2.29%–3.00%). Only patients with CAA differed from controls (p = 0.01). In the subset with VEPs, group was not associated with prolonged latencies or lower amplitudes. Lower BOLD amplitude response was associated with higher white matter hyperintensity (WMH) volumes in CAA (for each 0.1% lower BOLD response amplitude, the WMH volume was 9.2% higher, 95% CI 6.0%–12.4%) but not other groups (p = 0.002 for interaction) when controlling for age and hypertension.ConclusionsMean visual BOLD response amplitude was lowest in participants with CAA compared to controls, without differences in VEP latencies and amplitudes. This suggests that the impaired visual BOLD response is due to reduced vascular reactivity in CAA. In contrast to participants with CAA, the visual BOLD response amplitude did not differ between those with AD or MCI and controls.


2006 ◽  
Vol 65 (10) ◽  
pp. 1012-1021 ◽  
Author(s):  
James Scott Miners ◽  
Zoë Van Helmond ◽  
Katy Chalmers ◽  
Gordon Wilcock ◽  
Seth Love ◽  
...  

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